August 26, 2011 12.46 pm This story is over 150 months old

City tourism and culture cash boost planned

Extra funding: The City Council wants to spread some £500,000 among tourism and cultural bodies in Lincoln.

The City of Lincoln Council wants to invest more in the city’s tourism and culture with more than £450,000 of funding.

Several reports will be presented to the council’s Executive on Tuesday, August 30, making recommendations on how the funding should be distributed.

Of the total sum, it is proposed to give £10,000 to the newly formed Visit Lincoln Partnership and £5,000 toward the upkeep of the Visit Lincolnshire website.

Funding for the Visit Lincoln Partnership would allow the development of a destination management plan, a business plan and marketing plan for the entire city.

Emma Tatlow, Visit Lincoln Partnership Manager, said: “Lincoln needs to ensure that through concerted efforts and combining marketing resource we are able to tell the story of our city to a broad audience, growing the visitor economy attracting people here to visit, study, work and invest.

“In addition to public sector support we are grateful to the private sector businesses that have committed their support and will continue to look for further support from this sector.”

Lincolnshire County Council would receive the funding for the Visit Lincolnshire website for the short-term maintenance of the site.

Another £163,638 would go for a funding agreement with Lincoln BIG and £275,970 to Lincoln Arts Trust for provision of cultural arts at Lincoln Drill Hall.

Lincoln Arts Trust funding would grow to maintain the programme of cultural activity at Lincoln Drill Hall, which has been managed by the Trust since 2010.

Economic Sustainability and Tourism Services Manager at the City of Lincoln Council, Rob Bradley, argues that the visitor economy is broader than just tourism, including retail, business tourism, students and their families and anyone visiting family or friends in the city.

He said: “The latest research indicates that Lincoln received three million day visitors in 2010, worth £125 million to the local economy, supporting 2,000 jobs.”

Despite this, the report also highlights that even smaller cities, such as Bath and Salisbury, achieve more through their visitor economy than Lincoln.

The executive will meet on Tuesday, August 30, at 6pm in Committee Rooms 2 and 3 at City Hall and members of the public are welcome.